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#460
by
jamesh9000
on 06 May, 2016 23:40
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Here's a much nicer picture of the launch site as it looked on April 17. Still under construction:
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#461
by
savuporo
on 07 May, 2016 00:26
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#462
by
QuantumG
on 07 May, 2016 01:21
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Picturesque! I do hope they stream the first launch.
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#463
by
TrevorMonty
on 07 May, 2016 02:10
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Looks like all ground and concrete work is done, still missing fueling infrastructure, water tanks and lightening towers etc.
Most of this is probably being constructed off site, installation shouldn't take to long.
July launch is looking realistic.
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#464
by
Danderman
on 08 May, 2016 13:25
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New Zealand?
I hope they have their ITAR clearances in hand.
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#465
by
edkyle99
on 08 May, 2016 15:16
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New Zealand?
I hope they have their ITAR clearances in hand.
Why? This company is based in New Zealand.
- Ed Kyle
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#466
by
TrevorMonty
on 08 May, 2016 16:57
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New Zealand?
I hope they have their ITAR clearances in hand.
ITAR only applies to countries USA is not on best of terms with. For DOD launches Rocket labs plans to launch out USA.
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#467
by
docmordrid
on 09 May, 2016 00:14
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New Zealand?
I hope they have their ITAR clearances in hand.
NZ is part of Five Eyes; a US, UK, Canada, Australia and NZ intelligence alliance dating to WW-2. I think we can trust NZ to keep their end secure.
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#468
by
Alf Fass
on 09 May, 2016 10:00
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New Zealand?
I hope they have their ITAR clearances in hand.
While the majority of the ownership of the company appears to now be American, the technology they're using is being developed and manufactured in New Zealand with most of their top technical people being Kiwi's, so there's no potentially military technology leaving the US.
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#469
by
QuantumG
on 09 May, 2016 22:07
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The payloads from US customers are probably still an issue. Doing ITAR paperwork isn't as painful as most people think. It's just another overhead.
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#470
by
jongoff
on 09 May, 2016 22:49
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ITAR only applies to countries USA is not on best of terms with. For DOD launches Rocket labs plans to launch out USA.
Trevor,
That's not incorrect. ITAR applies to all non-US persons/entities, even those in friendly countries. It's probably easier to get a TAA for talking with the Evil Canadians or exporting rockets to New Zealand for launch than say selling military hardware to Russia or China, but you still have to comply with ITAR even for our closest allies. It's when something falls under EAR that you have STA exemptions you can claim in some cases for close allies. Part of why we pushed so hard to get as much off of the US Munitions List and onto the EAR commerce control list.
~Jon
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#471
by
ArbitraryConstant
on 09 May, 2016 22:50
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The payloads from US customers are probably still an issue. Doing ITAR paperwork isn't as painful as most people think. It's just another overhead.
Presumably no worse than a US company launching on Proton...
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#472
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 10 May, 2016 02:30
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Looks like all ground and concrete work is done, still missing fueling infrastructure, water tanks and lightening towers etc.
Most of this is probably being constructed off site, installation shouldn't take to long.
July launch is looking realistic.
I'll believe it when I see their rocket rolled out to the pad with the 1st flight satellites on top. Nothing short of that would convince me.
Speaking of which, who and what satellites are flying on them after all? They claimed that they have bookings for dozens of flights yet most are unaccounted for and the only one identified are some mini Earth observation says from a startup company. Its hard to see how they operates without a clear list of customers.
(In comparison, look at the earliest days of SpaceX - even then people know who has bought a flight and they could easily assign the booked slots to actual known satellites)
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#473
by
jongoff
on 10 May, 2016 03:50
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Looks like all ground and concrete work is done, still missing fueling infrastructure, water tanks and lightening towers etc.
Most of this is probably being constructed off site, installation shouldn't take to long.
July launch is looking realistic.
Having worked with rocket plumbing before, a July launch when they don't have any of the fuel loading infrastructure in place yet seems... optimistic.
~Jon
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#474
by
savuporo
on 10 May, 2016 04:09
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Having worked with rocket plumbing before, a July launch when they don't have any of the fuel loading infrastructure in place yet seems... optimistic.
~Jon
They'll do it in parallel, build all their own components and are totally vertically integrated ! You naysayer
Meanwhile, enjoy this 10-minute interview with Peter Beck
https://unfiltered.co.nz/gcs/peter-beck/#story
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#475
by
CameronD
on 10 May, 2016 04:14
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Having worked with rocket plumbing before, a July launch when they don't have any of the fuel loading infrastructure in place yet seems... optimistic.
~Jon
Just curious: What stops them trucking the fuel in on launch day?? By American standards, this isn't a very big rocket..
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#476
by
savuporo
on 10 May, 2016 04:20
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Just curious: What stops them trucking the fuel in on launch day?? By American standards, this isn't a very big rocket..
A bit of a truck drive, there :
https://goo.gl/maps/Y26Ry67XrEq
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#477
by
CameronD
on 10 May, 2016 04:44
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Just curious: What stops them trucking the fuel in on launch day?? By American standards, this isn't a very big rocket..
A bit of a truck drive, there : https://goo.gl/maps/Y26Ry67XrEq
From Auckland, yes.. but from Napier? Would they really truck the rocket all the way from Auckland?? IIRC, that's a pretty crappy road.
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#478
by
jongoff
on 10 May, 2016 05:51
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Just curious: What stops them trucking the fuel in on launch day?? By American standards, this isn't a very big rocket..
A bit of a truck drive, there : https://goo.gl/maps/Y26Ry67XrEq
From Auckland, yes.. but from Napier? Would they really truck the rocket all the way from Auckland?? IIRC, that's a pretty crappy road.
In many ways this reminds me of Falcon I at Kwaj. Their rocket isn't that much smaller than Falcon I, and it was also in a remote site. There's a lot that may go into fueling a rocket this size. And if the fueling infrastructure isn't in place yet, are there other "minor" items that aren't ready yet either. Just a good rule of thumb that once the rocket or test stand "looks" like a rocket or test stand, you're only starting to get close to operations. The rule of thumb I heard from a friend at Scaled was that once a new prototype airplane actually looked like an airplane (ie had wings, wheels, and engines), you were still probably a year out from flight test.
Is it possible they have everything ready to click together, and they won't run into any snags that take time to resolve? Sure. I'm just saying I think that's optimistic. Not impossible, just optimistic. Even if they don't make July though, I think they have a reasonable shot at getting a successful flight off before the end of this year.
~Jon
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#479
by
Alf Fass
on 10 May, 2016 06:54
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First a couple of questions: How hard would it be set up a LOX plant say a few km away and truck to the site? I don't see evidence of a mains power supply, so given the remoteness, and initial infrequency of launches, would that mean diesel generators would be reasonable to start with? What are the challenges of getting a RP-1 supply, could it be produced from commercial kerosene or at a major refinery or does it need to be sourced off shore?
There's a lot that may go into fueling a rocket this size. And if the fueling infrastructure isn't in place yet, are there other "minor" items that aren't ready yet either.
~Jon
So what is that specifically, outside of a LOX and RP-1 supply and the equipment to pump them into the rocket?
Thanks.
EDIT:
Can I compare the complexity of the fueling operation to that of the V2, which was a similar size and fueled with LOX and ethanol, it was launched from a mobile system consisting of 3 trucks (one tractor unit towing the Meillerwagen missile carrier and erector, one LOX tanker, one fuel tanker) and 2 command vehicles.
